The Marian College EcoLab is a rarity in several respects. Located near downtown Indianapolis on the Marian College campus, with groundwater seeps and sinks dotting the property, it contains approximately 30 acres of functioning wetland marsh, fen, and swamp habitat. Over 260 species of native plants including 26 sedges, 160+ bird species, and mammals such as beaver, muskrat, mink, and red fox use this island of wetland habitat within the city.
Further, the EcoLab is part of the estate formerly owned by Indy 500 and Allison Transmission founder, James A. Allison; an estate developed in 1911 by the pioneering landscape architect and conservationist, Jens Jensen. Jensen is well known even today for his use of native species in natural groupings in his landscape designs. The EcoLab contains first and second generation growth from those plantings as well as successional growth. The trails in the EcoLab have been built in the original locations of the former roads through the park-like Allison estate (known as “Riverdale”) connecting features including cobble and limestone bridges, spring-fed ½ moon reflecting pools, cobblestone spring-fed cisterns and pump house, massive limestone benches, and two 100’ sets of limestone stairways. This portion of the EcoLab will soon be nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The unique and easily accessible combination of human and natural history in the EcoLab is attracting both regional and national interest. More information about the Riverdale estate and its history can be found at riverdale.marian.edu.
The EcoLab is adjacent to our partner, Cold Spring School, a K-8 environmental magnet school in the Indianapolis Public School system. Cold Spring School has about 14 acres of natural area adjacent to the EcoLab containing a small portion of the original Allison estate. Users of the EcoLab can access the Cold Spring School property along the North Loop trail (see Trail Map).
Marian College uses the EcoLab as an environmental learning laboratory for their own students, as well as for K-12 groups and the local community. So far thousands of non-Marian students have been exposed to native Indiana wetlands and learned about their functions and connections to the larger White River watershed through the EcoLab. Student visitors to the EcoLab actively participate in environmental restoration activities such as collecting and sowing native plant seed, removing non-native plants, and planting native plant plugs and seedlings. Since the restoration of the trail system in 2002, the EcoLab has hosted hundreds of non-Marian college students and thousands of K-12 students for field trips and outdoor science lab experiences. Home-school students and boy scouts have used the EcoLab for environmental education activities, and several schools have conducted service days there. In addition to frequent independent use by the general public (especially bird watchers), EcoLab staff, and Marian students have led tours for hundreds of adults, including visitors from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, IUPUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science, the Amos W. Butler Chapter of the National Audubon Society, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, members of the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflowers Society, the Zionsville Garden Friends, and many, many more.
Marian students use the area in their art, English, biology, and environmental science classes and are working on several research projects such as examining the effects of honeysuckle removal on native vegetation, a cost benefit analysis of methods of protecting tree seedlings from beaver, mapping the location and growth of beaver-carved channels, and assessing the effects of wetlands on water quality. The EcoLab is also being used to educate the public about Indianapolis’ and the Allison estate’s interesting history and the historical ties between humans and their environment.
Although “the wetlands” has been utilized by professors and students sporadically since Marian College moved to Indianapolis in 1936, a comprehensive restoration of the area was initiated in 2000 by Dr. David Benson, associate professor of biology and director of the EcoLab. Honeysuckle (which covered approximately 85% of the understory canopy), oriental bittersweet, and buckthorn were removed from 40 acres of the Jensen-designed area, ten dumpsters full of debris were hauled out and more than 4,000 cubic yards of fill was excavated to approximate the location of trails original to the Jensen design. The Amos W. Butler chapter of the National Audubon Society provided an initial magnanimous grant toward habitat enhancement, removal of exotic species, and planting of native woodland grasses. The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust provided funding to restore the original trails through the area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Marathon Oil Settlement) continued the habitat restoration with a grant for exotic species removal and native species replanting. To help students learn about the job of an environmental scientist, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided funds to develop and implement field trips for middle and high school students in the EcoLab. Finally, the Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology awarded Marian College funding to develop a cultural landscape preservation master plan for the James A. Allison estate and the Jens Jensen-designed historic landscape. The official public opening of the EcoLab occurred on November 4, 2002 with a gala opening reception and lecture by Dr. Frank Gill, senior vice president and director of science for the National Audubon Society.
Since that time, the Marian College EcoLab has received funding from the White River Restoration Fund to continue the environmental restoration of the area and from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust to improve the environmental education opportunities the EcoLab offers to the community and K-12 groups.
As the EcoLab's natural and historic resources have been revealed, new opportunities for collaboration have arisen with the Amos W. Butler Chapter of the National Audubon Society, National Audubon’s Indiana Important Bird Areas program, Cold Spring School, Life Science Education Center, and others.
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